Legend holds that an Indian monk named Bodhidharma brought Chan Buddhism to China. Here, he performs his most famous miracle: crossing the Yangzi River on a reed. The faintness of the painting is characteristic of “apparition painting,” first produced by Chan artists in the eleventh century. The style visually manifests the Chan idea of the immateriality of the physical world. The painting was inscribed by Yishan Yining, a Chinese monk who traveled to Japan and helped to establish Zen there. His poem reads:
#7385. Bodhidharma Crossing the Yangzi River on a Reed
Traversing the [Yangzi] River and its Han tributary he came, Who professed ignorance to the Emperor. Upon his failure he left without hesitation, Pressing on, his feet treading the water. Written by Monk Yishan Yining with respect.[1]
逾河越漢來，對御道不識。 事負即抽身，腳下浮逼逼。 一山比丘一寧拜手。 [印]： 一寧、一山
[1] Translation from Department records.
[ Ellen B. Elliott , Princeton, NJ, until 1981; sold to MMA]
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Zen Painting and Calligraphy," November 5, 1970–December 20, 1970.
Lawrence. Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas. "Latter Days of the Law: Images of Chinese Buddhism, 850–1850," August 28, 1994–October 9, 1994.
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. "Latter Days of the Law: Images of Chinese Buddhism, 850–1850," November 16, 1994–January 11, 1995.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Resonant Image: Tradition in Japanese Art (Part One)," 1997–98.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Traditional Scholarly Values at the End of the Qing Dynasty: The Collection of Weng Tonghe (1830–1904)," June 30–January 3, 1999.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Enlightening Pursuits," February 28–August 5, 2001.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Douglas Dillon Legacy: Chinese Painting for the Metropolitan Museum," March 12–August 8, 2004.
New York. Japan Society Gallery. "Awakenings: Zen Figure Painting in Medieval Japan," March 28, 2007–June 14, 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Yuan Revolution: Art and Dynastic Change," August 21, 2010–January 9, 2011.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Chinese Painting from The Met Collection (Rotation One)," October 31, 2015–October 11, 2016.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Show and Tell: Stories in Chinese Painting," October 29, 2016–August 6, 2017.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Another World Lies Beyond: Chinese Art and the Divine," August 24, 2019–January 5, 2020.
Suzuki Kei 鈴木敬, ed. Chûgoku kaiga sogo zuroku: Daiikan, Amerika-Kanada Hen 中國繪畫總合圖錄: 第一卷 アメリカ - カナダ 編 (Comprehensive illustrated catalog of Chinese paintings: vol. 1 American and Canadian collections) Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 1982, p. 126, cat. no. A17-002.
Fong, Wen C. Beyond Representation: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, 8th–14th Century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1992, p. 354, pl. 78.
Weidner, Marsha, ed. Cultural Intersections in Later Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001, p. 27, fig. 1.11.
Leidy, Denise Patry. How to Read Chinese Ceramics. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, [2015], p. 106, fig. 30.1.
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